Actor Ivan Okhlobystin shared his thoughts on Yandex.Zen about the film Challenge, praising actress Yulia Peresild as embodying a strong, authentic Russian character.
Peresild is described as a compassionate and intelligent individual whose presence remains strikingly appealing. She is portrayed as a genuine Russian woman with a distinctive heritage. The conversation touches on the actor Mashkov and the ideological voice of the film’s setting, highlighting a sense of continuity with past talents and perspectives.
Okhlobystin admitted he entered the screening with some trepidation, worried that the project might lean on controversy to gain attention. After watching, he expressed a positive reaction, deeming the work a powerful piece. Peresild and others involved in the project frame it as more than a simple film, presenting it as a large-scale production with artistic and thematic ambition.
The film debuted in theaters on a spring date, earning a substantial amount in box office receipts within the first two weeks. In a broader comparison, another Russian feature released earlier had reached a high box office total in a shorter period, illustrating the competitive landscape of domestic cinema. Overall, Challenge stands as one of the notable Russian films to surpass a billion rubles in domestic earnings, marking a milestone in contemporary Russian cinema.
The narrative follows a surgeon who is dispatched to the International Space Station to perform a medical procedure on an astronaut. Peresild and co-creator Alexey Shipenko embarked on the space mission together, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. The film has also been released with English subtitles, making the spacebound story accessible to a broader audience, including viewers in North America who follow spaceflight narratives and space exploration dramas.